WHAT: Legendary actress Meryl Streep will speak to a crowd of 3,500 UMass Lowell students, faculty and staff, along with members of the public in the latest installment of the Chancellor’s Speaker Series.

At “A Conversation with Meryl Streep,” the actress will talk to bestselling author Andre Dubus III, a professor in UMass Lowell’s English Department, about her long and storied career as an actress on film, stage and television. Streep will also take questions from members of the audience.

As part of her appearance, Streep is establishing two new scholarship funds for UMass Lowell students, one in her name for English majors and the other in the name of Joan Hertzberg, a former classmate, for math majors. All net proceeds from the April 1 event – including a raffle of a director’s chair autographed by Streep – will go to the scholarship funds.

Members of the media interested in covering the event are invited to do so. Video cameras may connect to a high-definition video feed only during the first few minutes of the program. Photographers will be able to shoot from the Tsongas Center floor at the start of the program and then from a designated location on the concourse for the remainder of the event. Radio reporters may connect to an audio feed during the first few minutes of the program and then observe the rest of the program from the press box. Print and online reporters will be seated in the press box, which offers work space and wi-fi access during and after the program. Please notify UMass Lowell media relations in advance if you would like to cover the program or have any technical needs, such as audio or video connections. Note: Streep will not be available to the media at this event.